


Quiet

by DaughterOfKings



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Family, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Poe Dameron Needs A Hug, Post-Movie, Rey Needs A Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-18
Updated: 2018-10-18
Packaged: 2019-08-03 20:20:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16332809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaughterOfKings/pseuds/DaughterOfKings
Summary: Rey doesn’t expect the envy and longing to hurt so much, but they do. Poe has afather.Someone cares whether he lives or dies in this war.A scene following the ending of TLJ.





	Quiet

**Author's Note:**

> 1) Basically, I listened to _Tell My Father_ , and then Poe was in my head, and then Rey happened, too... 
> 
> 2) I started this fic so long ago that [SkylandMountain1013](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkylandMountain1013/pseuds/SkylandMountain1013) probably doesn't remember reading snippets, but I thank her anyhow!

It’s loud.

There are too many people too close to her. There’s too much pain.

Rey hadn’t realized her newfound ability to feel the Force in others would mean she’d feel this, too, and no one can teach her how to make it bearable. She sits in the copilot’s seat on the Falcon with her legs tucked up to her chest and her head pressed against her knees. Chewbacca looks her way every so often, but otherwise leaves her alone, and she’s grateful.

She’s startled when she feels someone’s hand on her shoulder.

She jerks away, scrambles to maintain her balance, but ends up in a heap at Leia’s feet. She can’t help but see Luke’s smirking face in her mind. There’s a hint of amusement in Leia’s eyes that indicates she sees it, too, and Rey wants to ask her how she can manage when she’s lost more than anyone- when she’s lost _everything_ -

“There’s a storage space near the sleeping quarters,” Leia says. “I doubt anyone has found it yet.”

Rey tries to thank her, but all she can do is nod and pick herself up off the floor. She thinks she ought to stay, ought to actually help Chewie with the piloting or-

“Go,” Leia says.

Rey goes.

The storage space is tucked away behind a row of pipes, but it isn’t empty. Poe Dameron is curled up in the far corner with BB-8 at his feet. She hasn’t seen him for hours; he’d stormed out of a briefing, and only Leia had followed him.

Which meant she knew where he had gone.

Rey tries to be angry at the general for the deception, for being unable to leave well enough alone, but she can feel how badly the man in front of her- a man she hardly knows, but knows so much about- needs someone’s company. So she steps through the door, dragging her feet to call his attention to her presence. He looks up, eyes fever-bright and bloodshot. He’s exhausted, he’s been crying, he’s barely keeping himself from drowning in guilt. She can sense all of it, and beyond that there’s a lingering presence- a scar-

Ben.

“Oh,” she says out loud.

BB-8 whistles a greeting, which jolts Poe into action. He bolts to his feet, stammering, “Rey. Uh, what- is everyth- does the general need me?”

Rey shakes her head. “No, I just... She told me this room would be empty, but I think she actually knew you were here.”

“Yeah.” Poe sighs softly and rubs the back of his neck. “She knows I can’t hide from you.”

It takes Rey a moment to realize what he means, and then she feels a rush of guilt. “It isn’t on purpose,” she says quickly. “I’m not trying- I wouldn’t go into- not without permission.” _Not like him_ , she doesn’t say. “I can leave,” she adds.

“It’s all right.” Poe doesn’t look at her as he sits back down, but he does shift so there’s room for her to sit beside him.

BB-8 nudges his knee and asks if he wants to resume his recording.

“Not yet, buddy,” he says. He looks at Rey and adds, “I, uh, was trying to record a message for my dad. I need to let him know I’m alive, but...” He shakes his head helplessly.

Rey doesn’t expect the envy and longing to hurt so much, but they do. Poe has a _father._ Someone cares whether he lives or dies in this war.

“Woah,” he says, shifting towards her. “You’re crying. I- what can I do?” His hand twitches like he wants to bring it to her face, but he aborts the gesture.

Rey wipes her eyes with her own hands, and draws in a shaky breath. “Will you tell me about him? About your family?”

Poe looks bemused for a moment, then shrugs and says, “Dad was a Rebel. Mom, too. The piloting comes from her.”

There’s something soft and sad in the way that he speaks about his mother, and Rey doesn’t want to press him. “Your father didn’t fly?” she asks instead.

Poe shakes his head. “He was with the Pathfinders- commandos under General Solo- for most of the war. He and my mother went back to Yavin IV after they were discharged. I grew up there, too, near the temple the Rebels had used as one of their hideouts.”

“When they attacked the Death Star,” Rey says, remembering snippets of the old stories.

“When it attacked them, more like,” Poe answers, half-smiling. “My dad used to talk about how big it looked even from the ground. He’ll be so angry when I tell him about Starkiller, and... everything.”

“He’ll be glad you survived it,” Rey says, and the longing hurts less this time. It’s easier for her to breathe now that they’re talking.

Poe doesn’t respond to that, but says, “Dad still lives in the house I grew up in, and still invites the other old soldiers over to trade war stories around the fire. They get wilder with each telling, too, so by now there are some tall tales.”

Rey relaxes against his side as he describes the colorful collection of ex-Rebels his father calls friends, and the other sons and daughters who- like him- decided to take up their fight. She doesn’t realize how much of her weight she’s putting on him until he shifts his arm from where it’s trapped beneath hers, but she doesn’t pull away.

Poe is warm, and she’s been cold since she escaped from Snoke.

And from Ben.

She can still feel him at the edges of her mind, trying to get in, scratching, tearing-

“Hey,” Poe says, and he’s grinning. “Should I ask you to tell me about Jakku?”

Rey doesn’t expect the laughter that bursts out of her. Once she gets it under control, she says, “Just keep telling me about Yavin.”

And Poe does. He tells her about the house his father built by hand, and the lush fields and forests she wouldn’t have been able to imagine before leaving Jakku. His words start to blur together and fade to a mumble as his exhaustion catches up with him, but she doesn't mind. She's warm, it's safe.

It’s quiet.


End file.
